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My Little Pony: The Movie Prequel
My Little Pony: The Movie Prequel is a Hasbro-licensed four-issue miniseries of full-color comics by IDW Publishing that ties into My Little Pony The Movie. Each issue serves as a standalone origin story for some of the new characters in the film but is also part of an overarching plot that spans all four issues. Summary Issue #1: Storm King The comic begins with the Storm King addressing the reader and narrating his own backstory. In the lands beyond Equestria, the Storm King is the commander of a fleet of airships and notorious as a conqueror and destroyer of whole nations. Having just conquered most of the kingdom of Abyssinia, the Storm King and his second-in-command Strife set out to invade the Abyssinian capital of Panthera. As the Storm King and his forces invade the city, an anthropomorphic cat named Capper and his friend Chummer watch as they pillage and destroy. The Storm King's soldiers use a battering ram to break down the royal palace doors, and he accepts the surrender of Abyssinia's king and queen. The king and queen give the Storm King control of the kingdom, but the Storm King is only interested in its vast collection of treasure and artifacts. The king and queen protest, saying they need their wealth to conduct trade with other nations and provide for their subjects, but the Storm King is unsympathetic. As the Storm King's soldiers haul away the palace treasures, he expresses a particular interest in magical artifacts and relics. While the king of Abyssinia denies the presence of anything of that nature in their vaults, the Storm King discovers a glowing green gemstone inside a treasure chest. The king and queen fearfully identify this gemstone as the "Misfortune Malachite" and explain that, while it possesses considerable power, it is cursed to bring its wielder bad luck and misery. Ignoring such a warning, the Storm King takes the Malachite for himself. With all of Panthera's riches plundered, the Storm King and his forces leave the city in blazes. In the skies over Abyssinia, the Storm King explains to Strife the secret to his great success: not having friends. He considers friends to be liabilities and potential traitors, viewing those who follow him—including Strife—only as servants and agents of his will. As the Storm King retires to his stateroom, Strife ponders heavily on his master's words. In his personal quarters, the Storm King addresses the reader again and contemplates on his ultimate goal of one day ruling the whole world. During his contemplation, the Storm King's armada suddenly comes under attack by parrot pirates. As the pirates seize control of his airships, the Storm King wonders how they got so close without being detected. Strife reveals that he helped the pirates launch their attack, having goals of his own that don't include his former master. With his lead ship sabotaged, the Storm King is unable to follow Strife and the pirates as they make off with his collection of plundered treasure. The Storm King, enraged by Strife's betrayal, appoints a lowly deckhand named Grubber as his new second-in-command and tells him to get the ship fixed so that they can chase after Strife. Issue #2: Captain Celaeno and the Pirates Two moons before the events of the previous issue, one of the Storm King's cargo ships comes under attack by Captain Celaeno and her crew of sky pirates. The opposing crew of Storm Creatures surrenders, and the pirates seize their cargo of wallpaper paste and sand. While the pirates are pleased with their latest haul, one of the pirates named Mullet mentions to Celaeno that such minor hauls aren't lucrative enough to maintain their crew and ship. He suggests venturing deeper into the Storm King's territory and targeting some of his larger ships, but Celaeno refuses to endanger her crew by drawing more of the Storm King's attention. Just then, a bottle appears on the deck of Celaeno's ship in a bolt of lightning. When Celaeno opens the bottle, green smoke pours out of it, and Strife's face appears in the smoke. Already aware of Celaeno and her crew plundering the Storm King's cargo ships, Strife offers them a more profitable opportunity. In two moons, the Storm King's fleet will be moving through a nearby pass carrying treasures seized from Abyssinia, and it will be defenseless against attack. Celaeno is unsure about trusting Strife and attacking the Storm King's own personal fleet, but her crew is excited in spite of the risk. Two moons later, under the cloudy cover of night, Celaeno and her crew attack the Storm King's fleet, hijack his treasure ships, and escape with Strife. The Storm King's flagship is unable to follow due to Strife's sabotage, and the pirates sail away. As they celebrate their largest haul yet, Celaeno thanks Strife for his help. One of the pirates discovers the Misfortune Malachite among the plundered riches, and when Strife explains what it is, Celaeno decides to store it on one of the empty hijacked ships until she decides what to do with it. A short time later, Celaeno discovers Capper and Chummer hiding below deck, having stowed away on one of the Storm King's ships during his siege on Panthera. Realizing that the two are far from home and family, Celaeno offers to let them join her crew, and they happily accept. All of a sudden, the Storm King's flagship—repaired sooner than expected—appears, and his Storm Creatures attack Celaeno's ships and incapacitate her crew members. After tossing Strife overboard for his betrayal, the Storm King expresses how impressed he was by Celaeno's ability to steal from him. He offers Celaeno the position of being his lieutenant while the rest of her crew are relegated to hauling cargo for him. As Celaeno refuses to abandon her crew, one of the Storm Creatures notices one of the ships escaping. Celaeno realizes Capper and Chummer are on that ship, and she thwarts the Storm King's efforts to capture them. Angered by Celaeno's interference, the Storm King decides to put her to work as one of his cargo haulers as well. Meanwhile, Capper and Chummer escape the Storm King's reach and set sail for clear, blue skies—unaware that they've brought the Misfortune Malachite with them. Issue #3: Capper of Abyssinia Following Capper and Chummer's escape from the Storm King in the previous issue, Chummer is unable to keep their airship afloat, and they crash-land in the middle of a desert. In need of food and shelter, they salvage what they can from the wreckage, including the Misfortune Malachite—which they believe they can sell off for some money. After some time of walking through the desert, Capper and Chummer end up in the rundown city of Klugetown. Using their cat-like wits, Capper and Chummer secure some food and settle down inside the windmill tower. Capper, tired of running and stealing, wishes for a place to call home, but Chummer reminds him of their old lives as Abyssinian orphans and says they'll make it anywhere as long as they have each other. Over the course of the next few days, Capper and Chummer swindle and pickpocket the residents of Klugetown for money and root around in the garbage for food. Their actions draw the attention of suit-wearing goons in the shadows. Unable to scrounge up enough food to eat and money to leave town, Capper comes up with an idea. The next day, Capper and Chummer pretend to have just pulled off a scam, and the goons who'd noticed them earlier appear and take them to see the leader of Klugetown's criminal underworld: crime boss Verko. Verko chews Capper and Chummer out for muscling in on his territory, saying "two cats can't make it out on the streets", but they offer Verko a deal: the Misfortune Malachite in exchange for some money. However, Verko recognizes the magical artifact, indicating he knows its true monetary worth. Capper and Chummer take advantage of this and request a fully-stocked and heavily-armed skyship in exchange for the Malachite. That night, Chummer dwells heavily on Verko's words, and Capper remarks on Verko's believed philosophy that friendship is just a distraction—a philosophy that he doesn't agree with. Capper still expresses a desire for a new home and to stop running and stealing to live, but Chummer says being thieves is what they are best at. The next morning, Verko and his goons provide Capper and Chummer with the skyship they requested. Chummer heads onto the ship's deck first to check it out, telling Capper to give Verko the Malachite once he gives the go-ahead. Moments later, however, the rope ladder leading up to the deck is severed, and the ship starts to take off. In addition, Verko discovers that the Malachite in Capper's possession is fake. Just before Capper is seized by Verko's goons, he grabs a rope dangling from the skyship before it flies out of reach and climbs up to the deck. He tells Chummer to stop the ship, but Chummer is convinced that Verko is right—two cats can't make it on their own. Unwilling to give up the life of a thief, Chummer rocks the ship back and forth and tries to shake Capper off. In the process, Capper gets tangled up in a red coat, and a lantern shatters on the ship deck, setting it ablaze. As Capper hangs over the edge of the deck, he begs Chummer to help him, but Chummer—in equal parts resentment and remorse—tosses him overboard, and Capper lands back in Klugetown. Verko gripes that he has been cheated out of two fortunes, and with Chummer's ship burning, it will likely crash in the desert. Heartbroken by his friend's betrayal, Capper puts on the red coat he got tangled in, declares that Chummer was never his friend, and walks away. Issue #4: Tempest of Equestria The final issue follows Tempest Shadow some time after she left her home of Equestria with a broken horn. As she makes her way through a desert, narrating her journey via journal entries, she comes across Chummer's crashed airship with a trail of paw prints leading away from it and discovers the Misfortune Malachite among the scattered boxes. Just then, another airship appears, and Grubber and several Storm Creatures lower down from ropes and rope ladders. Grubber demands the Malachite from Tempest on behalf of the Storm King. When he blurts out that the gemstone contains a lot of magic, Tempest refuses to relinquish it. She fends off the Storm Creatures with her unstable magic and runs off. Some time later, Tempest makes her way to Klugetown to get information about the Malachite. Inside a saloon called The Hive, she overhears some creatures talking about the Storm King and his interest in magical artifacts. After ducking into an alleyway, Tempest takes out the Misfortune Malachite and wonders about using its magic to restore her horn. All of a sudden, she hears voices coming from the stone—echoes of its previous owners—warning her to get rid of it or else face terrible misfortune. Knowing that the Storm King will be coming for her, Tempest prepares to move on from Klugetown. She meets an Earth pony stallion named Rambler, who is pleased to meet another pony so far from Equestria. When he mentions that his caravan is about to leave for Bleak Valley, Tempest asks to join him, and Rambler happily obliges. Later, as the caravan passes through a snowy valley, Rambler asks Tempest why she's traveling, and Tempest says she lost something precious and is looking for a way to get it back. Even later, the caravan is suddenly ambushed by Storm Creatures searching for the Misfortune Malachite. Using Rambler as a decoy, Tempest tries to sneak away, but the Storm King appears before her. Intrigued by Tempest and her search for powerful magic, the Storm King compliments her for eluding his soldiers and offers her a position as his second-in-command after Strife's betrayal. He asks for the Misfortune Malachite in return, but Tempest refuses, saying she needs to get her horn back. The Storm King offers to restore Tempest's horn himself, saying after he conquers the world, he'll have more power than anyone. Tempest gives the Malachite to the Storm King but warns him that it is said to bring bad luck. While Tempest says she doesn't believe in bad luck, placing fault for all of her misfortunes on others—including herself—the Storm King is ultimately convinced of the Malachite's curse and crushes the gem in his hand. Since the Storm King desires magic, Tempest tells him about Equestria and offers to help him conquer it in exchange for fixing her horn. The Storm King agrees, and he shakes the hoof of his new commander. Quotes Issue #1 :The Storm King: Whoa! Hey! Seems kinda unfair to have somebody else telling my story! If we're going to have a whole issue about me, then I'm gonna tell it! So please, join me on the next page, won't you? :The Storm King: After the invasion, I should do something for the soldiers. You know, like a pizza party! Or a funny hat day! Something to show I appreciate all their hard work pillaging and looting! :Chummer: Come on, Capper! :Capper: I wanna get a better look at their ships, Chummer! :The Storm King: I know I call myself a "king," but frankly, monarchy just isn't my thing. You take over one country, next thing you're dealing with taxes and committees and retirement packages! :King of Abyssinia: The Malachite brings bad luck and woe to any who possesses it. Whoever holds it for too long, or who uses its power, will come to ruin! :The Storm King: Really? Well, then, lucky for you I'm taking it off your hands! :Queen of Abyssinia: Why have you destroyed Abyssinia? :The Storm King: Because it was next on my list. :The Storm King: Friendship is a weakness. A liability. Friends distract you. Make you weak. Friends can betray you, make you forget your goals. I have soldiers, commanders, workers—but no friends. Which means nobody will ask me to sacrifice my ambitions. My goals are my own. Even you, my right-hand creature! Even you are not a friend. You are an agent of my will. You serve me not out of some misguided sentimentality or imagined camaraderie... but because you know I will win, in the end. :The Storm King: Now, I'm sure some of you may be asking: Why? Why do I desire conquest about all else? For that matter, who is the Storm King? Was I the child of a thundercloud and the sky? Was I born from an egg on a mountaintop? Am I merely an ordinary creature with dreams of greatness? What does it matter? I am purely what I am—no more and no less. I am not the king of the storm... I am a king who is a storm. :The Storm King: Strife? You... betrayed me? :Strife: No, Storm King. As you said, friends can betray you. I'' merely have my ''own goals. And they do not include you. :Strife: You claimed to have no friends... but you trusted me. That was your mistake. :The Storm King: You. Small, weak, useless creature. :Grubber: T-That's me! :The Storm King: You are too cowardly to ever attempt to betray me, are you not? Too spineless to consider your own wants. Aren't you? :Grubber: Y-Y-Y-You got me pegged, boss. Issue #2 :Sam: How's the sky, Ralph? :Ralph: Lookin' clear, Sam. :Sam: What about that, Ralph? :Ralph: Well, that looks like a pirate ship, Sam. :Sam: Think maybe we oughta start screamin', Ralph? :Ralph: Think maybe we should, Sam. :Captain Celaeno: Avast, ye scurvy scallywags! I am Captain Celaeno, and we are fearsome pirates! Give us your loot or face our wrath! :Captain Celaeno: We're a fine crew, we are. Surely there's never been as brave or as noble a band of adventurers to sail the skies. Some of us may be missing a few parts, sure... but that doesn't make us broken. We're not just a crew, Mullet... We're a family. :Mullet: We could start going after bigger ships. Follow the trade routes deeper into the Storm King's territory, find richer targets— :Captain Celaeno: And put ourselves in greater danger. We've survived this long because we only go after small ships. The more we harass the Storm King, the more he'll notice us... and the more likely he'll want to destroy us. :Captain Celaeno: We might gain... but I'm worried about what we might lose. Do we really want to risk what we have? :Pirates: Aye! :Captain Celaeno: So be it. :Strife: Why are you doing this? :Captain Celaeno: These kids are far from home, without a friend in the world. Who else is going to look after them? :The Storm King: Now, you and your crew did steal from me. But you did a darn good job of it. I can respect that kind of skill, captain. I'd like to offer you a job. :The Storm King: Congratulations, captain. You helped one ship escape my grasp. If you're so devoted to your crew... I suppose you should be allowed to stay together. Like I said... I always need more '' cargo haulers''. :Chummer: I'm tellin' you, pal... We got nothin' but blue skies ahead! Issue #3 :Chummer: Don't worry, Capper—a coupl'a cats like us will always land on our feet! :Capper: I don't want to be a thief forever. I just want to find a place where we can just... be. :Chummer: Hey, c'mon, buddy. Long as we got each other, we can make it anywhere. :Verko: My name's Verko. I own Klugetown. Every lowlife, knave, and villain who ever picked a pocket here answers to me. Except for you two. You two think you can just waltz into Klugetown and start robbing everybody? :Verko: That gem is cursed, they say. It's toppled empires and started wars. I buy it from you, I'm risking my neck. That gem could ruin me, put me out of business... forever. But, I mean, it's really a lot. So, sure, I'll buy it. :Chummer: I keep thinking about what Verko—about how two cats can't make it, out on the streets. But the two of us, we've always been there for each other. We wouldn't have gotten this far without each other. We need each other. Don't we? :Capper: Maybe Verko doesn't think that way. Maybe he thinks... friends are a distraction. Maybe he thinks, if you're alone... you can be free. :Chummer: ...Oh. :Capper: Like, if you don't have to help anyone, or you don't rely on anyone... you only have to worry about yourself. I don't like that. I like being with you, Chummer. :Chummer: Me too, Capper. :Capper: Chummer, please! Help me! :Chummer: You shouldn't have come after me, Capper! We could've been free! We could've lived our own lives! We don't need each other! :Capper: I'' need ''you! I need a friend! :Chummer: You were going to leave me, Capper. So I'm leaving you first. :Verko: Your friend has ruined us! He betrayed us both! :Capper: No... You're wrong. He was never my friend. Issue #4 :Grubber: Yer under arrest! That gem belongs to the Storm King! :Tempest Shadow: Does it? He should've taken better care of it, then. :Grubber: Grrr... Hand it over, lady! Or face the Storm King's wrath! That gem's got a lotta magic, and he needs it! :Tempest Shadow: Magic...? Then... if he wants it so badly... he can come and take it! :Klugetown Merchant: 'Scuse me, miss—you got any strange magical artifacts you wanna sell? :Tempest Shadow: No. Especially not to you. :Rambler: You lost somethin'? Back in Equestria? :Tempest Shadow: Yes... Something precious. And with it, I lost everything else. I lost what I defined myself be... Then I lost those who stood by me... And now, I'm simply... lost. I feel as though there is almost nothing left of me. Out here, I'll either lose myself completely... or find something new to be. :The Storm King: That trick with your cloak and that other pony, just now? That was darn clever. But why didn't you just ask him to help you? :Tempest Shadow: Because... Because I learned a long time ago... you can't rely on anypony else. :The Storm King: "Anypony." That's cute. :The Storm King: Once I've finished conquering, I'll have more power than any other creature in the world! :Tempest Shadow: Is that why you're searching for magic? Just for... power? :The Storm King: What other goal is there? Power. Control. These are the only things worth seeking in this world. :Tempest Shadow: I think "bad luck" is superstition. I don't blame curses. Everything bad that's happened to me... has been someone's fault. Sometimes mine. :The Storm King: So you don't believe in bad luck. I do. And if I'm going to be conquering, the last thing I need is bad luck. :Tempest Shadow: Promise me. :The Storm King: I promise—''Commander Tempest''. Category:Featured articles